Containers



M. A. HASSID June 19, 1962 CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 12, 1958 FIG.|

R Mn 0 E T NM N W Mm n r m# m 5 a n G r M a R m 2 B F United States Patent Ofilice 3,939,53fl Patented June 19, 1962 3,039,639 CONTAINERS Maurice Albert Hassid, London, England, assrgnor to The British Vacuum Flash Company Limited, London,

England Filed Feb. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 714,315 Claims priority, application Great Britain Feb. 12, 1957 10 Claims. (Cl. 215-13) This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to vacuum flasks. It has been proposed to provide a vacuum flask in which a vacuum jacketed vessel (hereinafter called a refill) which may have paralle sides or may be of reduced internal and external dimensions at the neighbourhood of the mouth, is retained in a cylindrical container by means of an annular shoulder threaded into the container and engaging the refill. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved construction of shoulder, which will be robust, yet simple.

According to the present invention there is provided a vacuum flask refill retaining shoulder comprising a moulding of resilient synthetic plastic material having at or near one end a recess shaped to receive and engage a lip portion of a container and being shaped to retain a refill in the container.

According to one embodiment of the present invention the recess is defined by a book-like flange on the shoulder whilst according to a further embodiment of the present invention the recess lies between a flange'on the shoulder and a projection on the shoulder.

The container is preferably formed at the shoulder engaging end with a bead which may be a strip spun over with the end of the container, may simply comprise the spun over edge of the container or in the case of a moulded container may be an integral enlargement. The bead may also be formed by' spinning over the edge of a threaded insert with the edge of the container.

The shoulder at its outer end may be of any suitable form but preferably it is formed so that it will seat on and make sealing engagement with the lip of the refill, will form a pouring lip and will also make sealing engagement with the external surface of he refill below the lip.

In order that the present invention may be well understood there will now be described two embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a cross section of one embodiment of shoulder,

FIGURE 2 is a cross section of a part of the shoulder of FIGURE 1 when in position upon a container and a refill, and

FIGURE 3 is a cross section of a further embodiment of shoulder in position on a container and refill.

Referring firstly to FIGURE 2 there is shown a refill 1 located in a cylindrical container '2 by a shoulder 3 on which is a cup 4. Any suitable form of stopper 5 closes the mouth of the refill.

The container comprises a sheet metal drum and at that end engaged by the shoulder it is spun over together with a strip 6 so that at the lip the container wall is thickened. The shoulder is a one piece moulding of resilient synthetic plastic material such as polythene and at its lower part includes a recess 7 into which the enlarged lip of the container engages.

The recess is defined by a hook-like flange '8 having an inwardly and upwardly inclined end face 9 to assist in moving the container lip into the recess. A register 14 is provided on the shoulder to locate in the inside of the container. Also the flange is disposed sufficiently far from the 'end of the shoulder'for the end of the shoulder to project and form an aid in centering the shoulder on the container during assembly. This projecting end 10 is joined to the shoulder register 14 by a tapered lead 15 which further assists centralisation of the shoulder during assembly. The hook-like flange, when the shoulder is secured on the container completely covers the lip of the container formed by the strip 6 and thereby prevents ingress of liquid or foreign matter between the shoulder and the container and protects the lip against oxidasation. On the inwardly directed free end of the flange 8 there is a rib 8a which will bear against and conform with the surface of the container to provide a seal to prevent liquid reaching the rolled over edge of the contained, e.g. during washing down of the flask.

To assemble the vacuum flask, the refill is placed in the container, the shoulder is placed over the neck of the refill and is centred by the projecting end 10 in the mouth of the container and pressure is applied to the shoulder to cause the hook-like flange to engage the enlarged lip of the container.

To remove the shoulder the hook-like flange is provided upon its outer edge with steps 16 which provide a purchase for pressing the hook-like flange off the container for example with the tips of the thumbs.

Intermediate the hook-like flange and the top of the shoulder the external surface is suitably shaped to engage the mouth of the cup 4. In the present embodiment a generally cylindrical smooth surface 17 is provided, which may increase progressively in diameter towards the booklike flange to provide a taper of for example /2 This surface will engage the mouth of the cup which may be internally threaded but in the embodiment illustrated the cup is shovm having projections 18 which are formed by an interrupted single thread. Thus a cup may be used which may equally be used with a shoulder having an externally threaded cup-receiving surface. Alternatively, the cup may have a smooth interior in which case projections are provided on the shoulder. The projections prevent an air-tight seal being formed between the shoulder and the cup, thereby facilitating location and removal of the cup.

Above the surface 17 the shoulder is generally arcuate until it meets the refill at 12 where the inside surface curves thereafter following the outside cylindrical surface of the refill as at 13. Over this part the shoulder has an internal diameter smaller than the external diameter of the refill so that it tightly grips the refill to locate it and to form a seal around it. Beyond this sealing portion 13 the inside surface extends radially inwardly. The external surface of the shoulder substantially follows the configuration of the internal surface until a point adjacent the mouth of the shoulder where the internal and external surfaces diverge, the internal surface, with an outwardly inclined mouth surface 19, defining a downwardly directed apex 11. This apex contacts the lip of the refill slightly inside the peak of the refill and the formation of the shoulder is such that the-apex has a degree of inherent flexibility and with the radially inwardly extending part of the shoulder is axially movable. It is therefore able to follow any undulations inthe lip of the refill. The external surface diverges-and meets the surface 19 which has a more pronounced outward inclination at its upper part to provide a pouring lip.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 the shoulder is indicated generally at 21, the container at 22 and the refill at 23. The container comprises a sheet metal drum having a base not shown which may be of any suitable construction and at that end engaged by the shoulder the marginal portion of the drum is spun over internally as at 24 so that an integral internal projection is formed. With such a construction of container the manufacture is simple in that the base may be secured in the container by'spinning the marginal part of the containerand the marginal part of the base and at the same time and in the same operation the open end of the container is also spun over.

The shoulder is a one piece moulding of resilient synthetic plastic material such as polythene and at its lower part, that is the part which engages the container, includes a recess 25 which receives the internal projection at the lip of the container.

The recess lies between a flange 26 and a projection 27 on the external face of the shoulder. The flange 2 6 is arcuate in cross-section and when the shoulder is in position the internal surface of the flange abuts the end of the container and extends in abutting relationship over a marginal part at that end of the container so that a liquid tight seal is formed between the shoulder and the container. The shoulder increases in external diameter from the innermost end 28, that is the end extending into the container up to a point below the flange and then decreases in external diameter, the projection 27 lying at the point where the increase in diameter ends and the decrease begins. Preferably the external surface of the shoulder between the projection 27 and the arcuate internal surface of the flange is so shaped that it will also make sealing engagement with the internal projection on the container. The taper adjacent the end 28 of the shoulder formed by the varying external diameter assists in insertion of the shoulder into the container.

As in the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 the upper part of the shoulder is formed to provide a downwardly directed apex to seat on the lip of the refill, to provide a seal around the outside of the refill and to provide a pouring lip. Furthermore the external surface of the shoulder above the flange 26 is cylindrical as in the preceding embodiment for receiving the mouth of a cup indicated at 32. To assemble the flask, container, refill and a stopper which is diagrammatically indicated at 35 and may be of any suitable construction, the refill is placed in the container, the stopper is located in the refill, the shoulder is placed over the neck of the refill and is centred by the end 28 in the mouth of the container and pressure is applied to the shoulder to cause the projection 27 to ride over the projection 24 on the container until the end of the container comes into contact with the internal surface of the flange 26.

With the above described constructions good sealing is provided between the shoulder and the refill and the shoulder and the container so that no foreign matter can pass between the shoulder and refill and the shoulder and the container. When it is desired to clean the vacuum flask the whole may be washed down and dried and there is no need to take it apart.

I claim:

1. A vacuum flask refill enclosure comprising, in combination, a container closed at one end and having a flask receiving opening at the opposite end, a resilient flask retaining shoulder, a hook-like flange projecting radially outwardly from one end of said shoulder, defining an axially outwardly opening marginal recess adapted to releasably receive the periphery of said open end of said container therewithin by deforming said shoulder, the opposite end of said shoulder having a radially inwardly extending co-axial abutment surface defining a central opening overlying a terminal portion of a refill flask enclosed within said container and shoulder, and said marginal recess of said hook-like flange receiving said periphery of said open end of said container linearly axially therewithin, said shoulder and flask refill being adapted to be linearly assembled with said container in response to the application of a linear axial force upon said shoulder and said container.

2. A vacuum flask refill enclosure according to claim 1 in which the shoulder extends below the flange to form a projecting annulus.

3. A vacuum flask refill enclosure according to claim 2 in which the hook-like flange is provided with a shaped external surface to afford purchase for removal of the shoulder from a container.

4. A vacuum flask refill enclosure according to claim 3 in which said hook-like flange includes a face directed toward the container and having a rib adapted to make sealing engagement with the container.

5. A vacuum flask refill enclosure according to claim 4 in which said hook-like flange includes a shoulder having an external surface adapted to engage the internal surface of the container.

6. A vacuum flask refill retaining shoulder according to claim 5 in which the external surface of the shoulder within the hook-like flange increases in diameter in the direction away from that end of the shoulder which will engage in the container and toward that part which engages the internal surface of the container.

7. A resilient shoulder for use with a vacuum flask having a container adapted to receive a refill therein including at one end thereof a radial outwardly extending annular flange having an annular marginal recess adapted to receive the lip of a container therein, one outer side of said flange defining a surface for sealing abutting arrangement with the lip of the container when said flange is deformed by axial movement between said shoulder and said I container, a projection downwardly extending at the inner end of said flange, the inner side of said projection being adapted to center said shoulder relative to the container during assembly, the outer side of said projection uniformly increasing in external diameter from its lower end toward its upper end to a point adjacent to said upper end and then decreasing in external diameter, the decreasing part of the projection defining a wall portion of said marginal recess, said marginal recess being adapted to receive the container therein for securing the shoulder thereto, the opposite end of the shoulder including a mouth defined by a radially inwardly projecting part adapted to engage the lip of a refill in the container, said part being yieldable axially of the shoulder.

8. A vacuum flask refill retaining shoulder according to claim 7 in which the flange is generally arouate in cross-section.

9. A vacuum flask refill enclosure comprising in combination a container closed at one end and having a flask receiving opening at the opposite end, a resilient flask retaining shoulder, a hook-like flange projecting radially outward from one end of said shoulder defining a marginal recess adapted to receive the periphery of said open end of said container therewithin by deforming said shoulder, the opposite end of said shoulder having a radially inwardly extending co-axial abutment surface defining a central opening adapted to overlie a terminal portion of a refill flask enclosed in said container and shoulder, said marginal recess of said hook-like flange receiving said periphery of said open end of said container linearly axially therewith, said shoulder and said flask refill being adapted to be linearly assembled with said container in response to the application of a linear axial force upon said shoulder and said container.

10. A vacuum flask according to claim 9, wherein said hook-like flange defines a radially outwardly opening marginal recess adapted to releasably receive the periphery of said container within said container.

References (liter! in the file of this patent Great Britain Oct. 19, 1955 

